Year Six
by gandalf537
Summary: Rose, Albus, and Scorpius are just starting their sixth year at Hogwarts...will they be able to deal with all the drama being a sixteen-year-old can bring? Not CC complaint.
1. Sixth Years at Last

**THE USUAL DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SETTINGS OR CHARACTERS, ONLY MY OCs AND THE EVENTS! PLEASE READ, I'M BAD AT SUMMARIES. SORRY IF I HAVEN'T BEEN ACTIVE IN A WHILE, BEEN BUSY.**

Rose POV

"Rose? Rose! Are you even listening to me?" Albus, my favorite cousin, waves his hand in front of my face.

"What? No, probably not," I sigh.

"As I was _saying_ while you were so rudely ignoring me, is when do you think Scorp will be here?" Albus continues. I glance around at our compartment. Frank Longbottom is curled in a corner, his nose buried in a book. His dark hair falls into his face, and he blows it up at random intervals. His twin sister, Alice, is sitting next to me, her blond hair up in a tight bun. Albus sits across from us, next to Frank.

"Well, he's a prefect, isn't he?" I say. "He's probably with the other prefects."

"Oh, yeah," Albus says. Then, "I'm glad I'm not a prefect." Alice snorts.

"No way _you_ would ever be a prefect," she says.

"Oh, yeah?" Albus says, hunching forwards. "Why?"

"Well-" Alice begins, but I interrupt.

"Alice, aren't _you_ a prefect?" I ask, noticing the shiny badge pinned next to the Gryffindor emblem on her robes.

"Oh my gosh, yes I am! I was one all last year, and I guess I forgot over the summer!" she squeals, and bursts out of the compartment.

Al laughs and Frank sighs. Frank is constantly annoyed by his sister's bubbly personality. They may be twins, but they're complete opposites. Frank goes back to his book, Al stares out the window.

"So," I say, trying to break the silence. "Sixth years, huh?"

"Yup," Frank says vaguely.

"Mm-hm," Al agrees.

"Well, I'm going to go look for some food," I announce. I get up and stalk down the hall of the Hogwarts Express, trying to ignore the whispers I've grown used to.

"Oi, Weasley!" I sigh and turn slowly around. Great. I've gone straight past the sixth-year Slytherins-who hate me.

"What do you want, Nott?" I ask. Travis Nott; he's hated me ever since the hippogriff I was working with in third year Care of Magical Creatures mauled him. Serves him right.

"I want to know where your friends are," Nott sneers. "Because there ain't anyone to stop me hexin' your pretty face."

I finger my wand behind my back. "Yeah?" I taunt. "Give it a go."

Nott does. Before he can get the jinx out, however, his wand is flung out of his hand. I turn around, and see none other than Scorpius Malfoy, his own wand pointed at Nott.

"Watch yourself, Nott," he snarls. "Or it'll be a detention."

"Why look," Nott snarls back. "The blood traitor. How are your mudblood friends?"

"Don't call him that!" I snap, my wand thrusted at Nott's throat. I may hate Malfoy, but _no one_ insults one of my best friends but me.

"Weasley," Malfoy warns. "He's not worth it."

"That's exactly what my father said to my mother about your father," I point out. "Before she punched your father in the face."

"True," Malfoy says while Nott whimpers. "But I would still have to give you detention."

I sigh and stow my wand in my robes, Gryffindor emblem blazing on my chest, just like Malfoy and Alice. Somehow, both Frank and Albus had the fortune to end up in Gryffindor as well-though they both claim the Sorting Hat had a tough time deciding, as it did with all of us.

Malfoy and I continue walking down the hallway back to our compartment, all thoughts of food forgotten. Not five feet away, I hear Nott mutter a jinx, heading straight for the back of my head. Malfoy shoves me out of the way and into the wall, his forearm pressed up against my chest. The jinx flies straight past, hitting an open compartment door. The force pushes the door closed, and a couple of angry fourth years poke their heads out. Then they see Malfoy and quickly duck back inside.

"Twenty points from Slytherin, Nott," Malfoy warns. "Go away before I make it fifty."

Nott scowls and he and his cronies duck back into their compartment. Malfoy turns back to me.

"Get off me," I say, trying to shove his arm off. No use. I may be strong, but he's stronger. We're both Gryffindor Beaters, sadly enough for me, but at least I'm Captain.

"Why?" he says, smirking. "It's comfortable."

I'm saved by Alice rushing down the hall. Malfoy quickly backs up until he hits the opposite wall.

"Hey, Alice," I say, relieved.

"Hi, Rosie," she chirps happily, lacing her arm through mine, oblivious to what just happened. "Hey, Scorpy." Malfoy rolls his eyes at Alice's nickname, which she made up second year. As we pass the fourth years, they sneak glares at us. I stifle a laugh, and Alice giggles. She's pretty much the same as she was when we got together mid-July. I'm sorry to say that Malfoy is now a head taller than me; my forehead just reaches his chin.

We burst into the last compartment(which we take every train ride). My little brother Hugo and cousin Lily, fourth years, have joined Al and Frank.

"Hi, guys!" Alice says. Lily jumps up and runs straight to Malfoy, who sighs. Lily's been obsessed with him since she met him. She claims it's his good looks...I don't see it. Well, maybe a little. But Al and I think it's hilarious and Alice thinks it's cute, so I have to stifle another laugh.

"Hi, Rosie," Hugo yawns. "I think we're gonna be there soon, Lily. We should go."

"Bye!" Lily squeals as she runs out the still-open door. Hugo yawns again and shuffles after her, closing the door behind him.

"He's right, you know," Frank says, frowning. "We are going to be there soon."

Al sighs. "Alice, Rose-get out, I need to change."

"Oh, we don't care, do we, Rosie?" Alice giggles.

"Well, Rose is my cousin," Al says. "So Alice, out."

Alice sighs and steps out of the compartment. I have no desire to see my cousin in his boxers, so I follow her.

Of course, Alice tries peeking into the compartment every few seconds, so I have to distract her with my last Cauldron Cake, coincidentally her favorite sweet.

Malfoy knocks twice on the glass to let us know Al is done, but we've already arrived at the Hogsmeade station. The five of us head down the train toward the carriages. We take one with the five of us, Hugo and Lily, and James and a couple of his friends; Cade McLaggen(who is thankfully nothing like his father) and Joshua Brown.

Hugo and Lily can't see the thestrals(thankfully), but we can. Triwizard Tournament, two years ago, hosted by Hogwarts. Tracey Monaghan, Durmstrang champion, killed by a rogue dragon. It had followed its mother here, seen Monaghan facing off, and swooped in. Awful. But they've still continued, because that was the first death(discluding Cedric Diggory) to occur.

The Sorting is excellent, several new first years for Gryffindor. I successfully avoid Nott as he attempts to jinx me again(Headmistress McGonagall catches him, Malfoy informs her that's the third time and he gets fifty points from Slytherin and a detention). The feast is as delicious as ever.

Of course, by the end of the night we're all exhausted. Alice and Malfoy have to show the first years around, so Frank, Al, and I trail behind them blearily. I bid the boys goodnight and head up to our dorms. Alice and I share with Bethany Brown(who's a dunghead), Cait McLaggen(who's a heck of a lot like her father), and Alison Finnigan(who is really nice and an excellent Chaser).

The first week of classes buzz by. No new teachers, harder classes. "NEWTs are coming up fast," the professors say. Are you kidding me? We don't have NEWTs for another _two years_. The teachers really need to learn that.

Albus POV

"Albus Severus Potter, stop staring at Bethany Bimbo Brown an listen to me!"

"Huh?" I say, jerking out of my thoughts. "Sorry, Rose, I was thinking about stuff."

Rose raises her eyebrow and Alice giggles.

"What?" I ask. "What's so funny?" Rose sighs.

"Nothing, nothing," she says. "What I was _saying_ is that we should plan a prank."

"A prank?" Frank asks. "Why?"

"Because my uncles left us a legacy to fill, and I intend to fill it," Rose announces.

"Rose, we're a week into school," Scorp says, looking up from the Herbology essay he's struggling over. "Can't it wait?"

"No," she says. But she drops the topic of pranks and turns back to her DADA essay.

"Oh, give them here," I say, snapping. They both grin and hand me their essays, which I easily complete. Rose may have inherited Aunt Hermione's brains, but she also inherited Uncle Ron's easy-going, laid-back, please-help-me-cheat personality. Her idea of a peaceful resolution is knocking someone's teeth out with her Beater's bat. Or textbook. Or whatever heavy object happens to be near.

"Thanks, Al," Rose and Scorp say in unison as I hand their respective essays back. Then they glare at each other. I sigh. This is going to be a loong year.

"Back on the topic of pranks, I want to get Nott back," Rose informs us.

"Back for what?" I ask, confused.

"Trying to jinx me on the train," she says. "Twice."

"He _what_?!" I yell, nearly spilling my ink bottle.

"Relax, Al, it was a week ago," she says. Then she starts talking about all of the pranks she has planned. I sit back down, seething. Rose is my favorite cousin, and I know that I'm hers, and I'm _very_ protective of her, ever since my mom told me all about how protective Uncle Ron was of her, especially around boys. Rose is a dead ringer for my mom; same long, wavy ginger hair, same brown eyes. The only difference is no freckles, and she's a bit shorter. I've heard boys whispering about how they like her; they say her personality is as good as her looks. A few glares from me set them straight, but she's still never had a boyfriend. Which, I admit, may be my fault. And I hate Nott as much as she does.

Alice is doing her nails, her long blond hair up in a ponytail-yes, I admit she's pretty. Frank is organizing his chess pieces, Scorp is starting on another essay. He looks at me hopefully, and I shake my head. He sighs in defeat.

The portrait hole bursts open. We all look up as our Head of House, Professor Mulberry, barges in through the portrait hole. She's gasping, looking around the common room. She spots us and rushes over.

"Rose," she says quickly. "Your brother has been attacked."

Rose gasps and stands up. "By who?" she asks.

"Travis Nott," Professor Mulberry continues. Now I'm not the only one seething.

"Al, come on," she says. A few of the Weasley-Potter clan get up to follow, Louis, Roxanne, and Lucy are the only ones standing around.

When we get to the hospital wing, Hugo is already sitting up, grinning about something with Lily and James. Rose runs right to him.

"Where's Nott?" she asks. "Because I'm going to kill him."

"I think Professor McGonagall beat you to it, dear," says Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. "Last I heard, it was one hundred points from Slytherin and detention until Christmas."

"Oh," Rose says, looking slightly disappointed.

"Can I go now?" Hugo asks. "Really, I'm fine." All the younger cousins look up at Madam Pomfrey with pleading eyes.

"I suppose," Madam Pomfrey sighs. Hugo grins and jumps up.

"What did he do?" Louis asks as we walk back to Gryffindor tower.

"Some sectum-thingy," Hugo says. Rose, James, and I go white. We're the only ones who know what Sectumsempra really is...it's how Uncle George lost an ear, of course. The younger ones don't know yet, though.

"He missed," Hugo is saying, "and it only hit my forehead. Professor Mulberry was walking by and she sent him to the Headmistress's office and me to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey healed me in about a minute."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Rose says, ruffling his hair. Then she yawns as we clamber into the portrait hole. "G'night." She tromps off to bed, Alice getting up to follow her. Frank is gone, Scorp still struggling with his essay.

"Oh, give it here," I say, sighing. He grins. Yup, this is going to be a very long year.


	2. The Troubles of Quidditch

Scorpius POV

I yawn and clamber out of my four-poster bed. "Quidditch today, mate," I say, throwing a pillow at Albus's head. He groans.

"Rose is never gonna let me in after last year," he says.

"Nah, you were fine," I say.

"Dude, we lost to _Slytherin_ because of me," Al moans.

"We still won the Quidditch Cup," I say. "Don't worry about it, mate, it'll be fine."

"Meh," is all Al says.

We quickly change into something more suitable for Quidditch.

"She's gonna find some better Seeker, I know it," Al mumbles as we walk down to breakfast. "She's gonna replace us all."

"Shut up, mate," Frank says as we sit down next to him. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," Al moans. This is what I have to put up with on a daily basis.

Al moans some more about how awful he is when Weasley and Alice show up.

"Al. Frank. Malfoy," Weasley says, yawning. "Ready for tryouts?"

"No," Al grumbles. But he eats his breakfast without much more mention of it. I try not to notice Wealsey's gorgeous red hair or her deep, brown eyes-but it's no use. As soon as Dad pointed her out at Platform 9¾ beginning of first year, I knew I was a goner.

Alice and Weasley head down to the pitch together because Weasley needs to set something up. Al, Frank and I head down a few minutes later.

Alice is already in the stands, cheering and waving a Gryffindor banner.

"What are you doing?" her brother yells. Annoyed at her, per the usual. "It's not a _game_!"

"I know!" she screams back. "But it's still house pride!"

Frank sighs. We're all used to Alice's peppiness by now.

"Oi, you lot!" Weasley yells. "Split up into groups for what you're trying out for! We need a Beater, a Keeper, a Seeker, and three Chasers!"

Everyone splits up into their groups. Frank joins the Keepers, Al the Seekers. I go to the Beaters, of course, swinging my bat and my broom over my shoulder. Doubt crosses my mind as it did Al's: what if I don't make it?

Rose POV

"Chasers first!" I yell. Chasers are by far the largest group I need, two of them graduated last year. Alison Finnigan is still here, she's in my year. A few people surprise me; my cousin James is here for the first time; said he had no interest in being on the House team. Several of my other cousins are as well, including Lily and of course Al. Even Hugo is here, but he's in the stands. He claims he doesn't want to play.

The Chasers go by far the fastest, even though we need the most. James Potter(surprisingly), Alison Finnigan(not surprisingly), and a new find called Chelsea Robins, a fourth year. Apparently her mother played Chaser for Gryffindor as well.

Then the Keepers. I'm very pleased to say that Frank gets the position, he saved ten out of ten goals put on him by Alison. The second closest only got eight out of ten.

Seekers doesn't take much long either, all Al's worrying went down the drain. Of course he got in, he caught the Snitch in about five minutes. Everyone says he's as good as Uncle Harry.

It's Beaters that take the longest, even though there aren't as many people as the other groups. But the competition comes very close between Malfoy and that idiot Cait McLaggen. Then I take out my new machine.

The idea was inspired by Grandpa Arthur's obsession with muggle things. Mum told me all about "guns", which are a kind of weapon muggles use to kill each other with. She also told me about "targets"-and it gave me an excellent idea. I bewitched twelve targets to move around the Quidditch pitch as if on brooms, six marked with red, six with gold. Malfoy was gold, Cait was red, and they had to aim the Bludgers at the other team. Each target hit was a point, hit your own team and a point was deducted. Whoever had the most points after five minutes won.

Well, four and a half minutes up and it's tied, 17-17. 0:30 left on the clock. 0:25. 0:20. 0:15. Cait hits one of her own teammates. So does Malfoy. 0:10. 9. 8. 7. 6. Then Malfoy whacks a Bludger at just the right angle, and it bounces off all six of the targets marked in red. The buzzer sounds. Final score: 22-16. Malfoy got the job, again. I can't say I'm not pleased, he's much better than Cait.

Of course, just like her father, as soon as Cait lands she's right up in my face.

"Give me another go," she says immediately.

"No," I respond. "You had your go, you lost. Malfoy beat you fair and square. He won. Again. Like always."

"Exactly. Like always. So give me another go."

"No. Go away before I hex you," I say, pulling out my wand. She glares at me one last time and slinks away, gritting her teeth, broom thrown over her shoulder.

I turn back to my friends; it's wonderful. A team of people I like.

"Thank, Weasley," Malfoy says. "Did you jinx it to line up perfectly for me?"

"No," I say truthfully. "Alice did."

He smirks and calls to Alice, who is standing by Frank. "Thanks, Longbottom!" he yells. She sticks her tongue out at him.

"First game!" Al calls, running over. "Us against Slytherin, Halloween!"

"Oh, boy," I say. "Slytherin?"

"That's right," a voice drawls. I whirl around. Nott.

"And I'm playing Beater against the blood traitor and the idiot," Nott smirks.

"Get out of here before I curse you, you filthy-" Al lays a hand on my arm.

"Don't," he warns.

"That's right," I say. "You have detention until Christmas, don't you? How are you playing Beater?"

"I pulled some strings," he grins. Then he stalks off with his cronies, Jonathan Goyle and Maxim Warren.

"I may not have to wait until Halloween to pulverize him," Malfoy mutters, and I laugh. He looks pleased with himself for a second, then resumes his normal scowl.

"Halloween can't come soon enough," I say.

 **~oOo~**

Halloween.

Day of the match against Slytherin.

Albus receives many catcalls from the Slytherin table, who are all sporting green and waving small, serpent-shaped flags. Since they last time we played Slytherin, their Beaters gave up on the Bludgers and hit Al at the same time with their bats. In the head. Knocking him unconscious and costing us the match. We still won the Quidditch Cup, of course, because they only won by ten and we crushed Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

The team quickly heads down to the locker rooms, changes into our scarlet and gold Quidditch robes, and settles down to hear my pre-game pep talk.

"Okay, guys," I say, gulping. "The Slytherin team is a load of cheating scum, so ignore them and avoid whatever they throw at you, and just remember we haven't had a better team in years."

"Very inspirational, Weasley," Malfoy says sarcastically.

I sigh. "Budge up, you lot, and win or no party in the common room."

That gets everyone's attention.

"If we lose, could we have a pity party?" my cousin James asks.

"No," I say firmly. "Maybe that will encourage you to win."

It does. We head out, Liana Jordan, daughter of the famous Quidditch commentator Lee Jordan, screams our names.

"Finnigan, Robins, Potter, Longbottom, Malfoy, Weasley, aaaand Potter!"

Three-quarters of the stadium cheers, decked out in gold and red. The section of Slytherins boo until their team is announced.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch says. Yes, she's still refereeing after years of service, although she's hired trustworthy students to help her.

I shake hands with the giant Slytherin Captain, Devin Flint, a seventh year.

Madam Hooch blows the whistle and releases the balls. I swing my leg over my Firebolt 200 and take off, bat clutched tightly in one hand. Liana keeps up a running commentary throughout the entire game.

"And it's Robins with the ball, Robins flying to the goals, nice pass to Finnigan, Finnigan shoots-SHE SCORES!" The stadium bursts into applause.

This keeps up for another half an hour, Gryffindor leading 80-40. Slytherin has had several shots on Frank, but he's held up well so far.

"Doing alright, Weasley?" Malfoy twists his broom so he's a few feet away from me.

"So far," I say, grimacing. Nott, who did end up playing Beater, aims a Bludger at me. I easily hit it away towards a Slytherin Chaser, knocking him off his broom.

"When d'you think they'll start after Al?" Malfoy asks.

"Now," I say, grimacing again. We both take off after Albus as both Bludgers are aimed his way. I hit one, Malfoy the other, not checking where we're aiming. Al looks like he's about to be sick.

"Hang in there, bro!" James calls as he zooms by, going in for the Quaffle.

We score twice, Slytherin once. Malfoy and I circle around Albus protectively.

"Guys," he says. "Someone go cover Frank!"

He's right, Nott's begun aiming for Frank instead of us. Malfoy stays with Al, and I circle around slightly above the goal hoops, only having to interfere once in awhile.

Then Albus streaks to the ground, but the Slytherin Seeker knocks him out of the way. Alison Finnigan takes the penalty. 110-50.

"Rose!" Frank yells as the Chasers battle for the Quaffle in the middle of the pitch. Frank is pointing up frantically. Nott is going straight for Malfoy, who is looking the other way. I can only watch in horror as Nott slams into Malfoy and then quickly flies the other way, and no one but Frank and I see it happen. Malfoy is knocked off his broom and goes into free-fall. The broom shuts down-a new feature of the Firebolt 200-and falls to the ground. I have no choice but to swoop under Malfoy, and I just barely catch his hand. I swing him up onto the back of my broom.

"Thanks, Weasley," he pants, clutching my waist.

"Hands off or I throw you off the broom," I inform him. He removes his hand and clutches the side of the broom instead. I quickly land and allow him to dismount, and then take off again, pausing once to make sure he's regained his feet.

I barely have time to duck when the Bludger nearly hits me in the face. It flies straight past me-and right into the Slytherin Seeker, who's currently in a race with Al for the Snitch. Al pulls ahead-and the Snitch is his.

And then Alison Finnigan and Chelsea Robins and are hugging me, and then there's Al and James and Frank and Malfoy, and we sink to the ground, laughing and cheering.

Final score: 260-50. We all go to the Halloween feast, of course, and it's amazingly delicious. But the party in the common room lasts until one in the morning, when Professor Mulberry comes to shut us up. Everyone reluctantly trudges up to bed after that-but we all have to admit, it was a great day.


	3. Christmas and Chaos

Albus POV

I yawn and stumble down to the common room. Rose and Alice are already up, talking about tomorrow night: the Christmas dance. Frank and Scorp follow me, none of us are excited. The chance to make fools of ourselves with our limited dances skills in front of the whole school? Not gonna be fun. But Rose and Alice are making us go, and seeing as Neville-I mean, Professor Longbottom-works here, and he's encouraging us to go, well, we can't really say no.

Christmas Eve buzzes by, couple of snowball fights, mostly homework. Then Christmas itself comes.

"Presents!" Frank grins. "Oi, mate, wake up! You got food!"

The word 'food' perks me up instantly. My presents are all excellent this year, a little of this, a little of that. Rose and Alice barge in halfway through, Rose already wearing her Weasley sweater.

"Put in on," she says, forcing me into my sweater while the three others laugh. I wonder what the rest of the castle thinks when half of Gryffindor shows up to the Great Hall wearing pretty much the same sweater. I guess I've never really thought about it.

Lunch breezes through, leaving what we've all been dreading(well, what us boys have been dreading): the dance.

Alice insisted that we go as a group of friends and all do the same color scheme. Frank, Malfoy and I all have the same exact dress robes: bright gold with red stripes, the best we could come up with. Turns out Rose and Alice have the same outfits as well, gorgeous dresses with alternating gold and scarlet layers. Both of them are grinning and laughing about something.

The three of us stare speechless as the come down the stairs, followed by their friend Alison Finnigan.

"My lady," I say jokingly, making a big deal out of bowing and offering my arm to Alice, who giggles. Rose stifles a laugh as well, and we all head down to the Great Hall together.

It's been transformed since lunch. Only one table is out, set up with snacks and drinks. Where the professors usually sit is a giant stage, and on it performs-

"Teddy!" Rose laughs. "Teddy Lupin!"

That's right, Teddy and his band from a few years ago have gotten back together to perform. The rest of the space is set up with elaborate ice sculptures and a massive dance floor.

The rest of the night goes by in a buzz; all I remember afterwards is dancing once with Alice and once with a very pretty Ravenclaw girl. At the end of the night, Scorp, Frank, Rose, Alice, and I are sitting down at a small table together.

"I'm exhausted," Alice says, yawning. "And I want to check on Dad before bed."

"I'll come with you," says Frank, getting up to join her.

"Um," Scorp says once they leave, clearing his throat. "Weasley, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Rose says, shrugging and getting up as well. Since all four of them are leaving now, there's not much point in me staying.

"I'll see you up in the common room," I say to Rose. She nods once before following Scorp.

"Don't try anything funny with my cousin!" I call after them.

"I wouldn't dare!" Scorp calls back.

I head up to Gryffindor tower, ignoring the drunken Fat Lady and her friend Violet. I choose my favorite armchair by the fireplace and must doze off, because it's maybe thirty minutes later when I wake up. I know if Rose had come back, she would've woken me, or Scorp would've. Just then, Alison Finnigan climbs in through the portrait hole.

"Alison," I say, getting up. "Can you check to see if Rose is up there?" She nods as she climbs up the stairs. Alison reappears a few moments later on the landing, shaking her head. I nod once in thanks. I quickly go to the boy's dorms. No Scorp. Maybe they went back to the dance?

Yes, that must be it. I climb back through the portrait hole to go check, and boy am I glad I did.

Rose is stumbling down the hallway, clutching her throat, which is bright red. She looks like she was crying-and Rose _never_ cries, and I mean _never_.

"Rose!" I yell running right to her. She collapses into my arms, sobbing, shaking, one hand massaging her throat, the other hanging limply at her side.

Now that she's up close, I can see the mark of a hand on her neck. Someone has been hurting my cousin-isn't that what I was trying to protect her from? I would never admit that I was, but boys are extreme idiots sometimes.

"Rose," I say quietly. "Who did this to you?"

She chokes out a few unintelligible words.

"Who did this to you?" I repeat, my voice rising.

"M-Mal-Malfoy," she finally chokes out hoarsely.

"Scorpius?" I ask in disbelief. She nods, still sobbing.

I help her back into the common room-I'll deal with Scorp later. Rose is still leaning on me, and I yell at the bottom of the girls' stairs.

"Alice! ALICE!"

"What?" she asks sleepily. She spots Rose and gasps, running down the stairs.

"Rose, what happened?" she cries.

"Shh," I hush her. "Don't wake up all of Gryffindor. Just-try to make her better."

Alice nods and presses her finger to her lips. I transfer Rose's weight to Alice, and Rose's hand catches on my wrist.

"Al," she says hoarsely. "Thank you."

I nod and try for a smile as they go back up the stairs, Alice speaking softly to Rose under her breath. I still can't believe it was actually Scorp-but then again, maybe I can.

Turns out, I don't even need to leave the common room. Scorpius bursts in, breathless, his blond-silvery hair swooped to one side.

He sees the expression on my face. "What?" he asks. "What's wrong?"

"You know very well what's wrong, _Malfoy_ ," I hiss. My use of his surname stings, I can see it. I don't use it playfully, either, like Rose used to; when I say it, I mean business.

"You stay away from cousin," I say. "You come near her ever again, I'll personally make sure it's the last thing you ever do."

With that, I turn around and march straight up to our dorm. I know he follows me, trying to explain, but it's been explained enough: Rose doesn't lie, at least not to me, and she has the marks on her neck to prove it.

Scorpius POV

I swear, I didn't mean to do it. I would never do it on purpose.

I wanted to talk to her, to tell her how I've felt for the last six years. And then the moment came, and I froze.

"Cat got your tongue, Malfoy?" Rose had joked, but she looked nervous, though not as nervous as I had felt.

"Do you remember the train?" I blurted out.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"The train." I took a step closer, and another, and she backed away seeing the hungry look in my eye. Her back was pressed against the wall. I'm a good head taller than her, and stronger, too.

"Malfoy," she said. "What are you doing?" I took another step closer, but this time there was nowhere for her to go. "Malfoy," she said, her voice shaking. She looked each way, but there was no one in the hallway.

"I'm just gonna go now," she said cautiously, trying to move past me. I don't know what happened, it was like I was watching through someone else's body. I had reached out and grabbed Rose by the neck, her toes skimming the ground, until her eyes were bulging...until I realized what I was doing and let go. She fell to the ground, staring at me in disbelief and maybe a little bit of fear. And then I turned and ran, much more afraid of myself than she was. I ran to the Room of Requirement, where it became the room hiding the Mirror of Erised. I stared into the Mirror as long as I dared, as I have been doing for years now. It showed several things, things I'd grown used to: my brother, alive again, my grandfather proud of me for once, my friends beaming, Rose's face the brightest…

Then I realized what had happened. The feeling of being in someone else's body...like someone was telling me what to do...I had been under the Imperius Curse.

I stumbled back to Gryffindor tower, expecting to apologize and explain to Rose, only to be screamed at by Albus. In one night, I ruined everything. In one night, I sealed my fate.


	4. Apology Not Accepted

Rose POV

I glare at the Slytherin table from across the Great Hall. They're all laughing about the marks around my neck; slightly green from some special herbs Alice and Frank concocted. I'm supposed to speak as little as possible for the next week; if I do that, I'll be perfectly fine.

"Rose," Albus says quietly behind me. I turn around slowly. Al sits down next to me. "How are you feeling?" I shrug. Truth be told, I feel like crap; but maybe it's just because one of my best friends would do that to me.

Alice and Frank join us, Alice announcing her presence by giving me a hug like she's done for the past three days.

Then Malfoy comes, sitting only a few seats down from us like he has every day. I lay my hand on Al's arm when he looks like he wants to get up.

"Ignore him," I say hoarsely. "He's not worth it." Al tries for a smile and stays seated. Malfoy gets up and walks over to the Slytherin table. He murmurs a few words to _Nott_ , who nods. Then he sits down next to Nott.

Next thing I know, Alice is soothing me, trying to calm me down.

"He's not worth it," Al says lightly, which makes me laugh.

"Hey," Frank says suddenly. "Don't we have Quidditch practice tonight?" I groan. This is _not_ going to work out well; seeing as more than half of the team hates Malfoy now. Only my family and close friends have been told who hurt me; the rest of the school is in the dark. But seeing as that's the entire team except Chelsea Robins and Malfoy himself, I'm not sure how it's going to work out.

Of course, come practice, the entire team is glaring at Malfoy, who gulps nervously.

"You okay?" Al asks. I nod. The first half of practice goes okay, until it becomes obvious that this isn't going to work out. I try to avoid Malfoy as much as possible, which works out fine until he nearly hits me with his bat. I can tell it was an accident, but it sets Albus off on a screaming rampage, something along the lines of, "I TOLD YOU TO NEVER GO NEAR MY COUSIN AGAIN!"

James and Frank have to restrain him from tearing Malfoy apart, who is stammering that it was an accident, and I have to intervene. "Go," I say quietly, gesturing to the locker room.

"Rose, I-"

"GO!"

I don't even care he used my actual name-which he never does-I just want him out of here. Thankfully, he leaves.

"This isn't going to work," Frank says, letting go of Albus. "Most of the team hates him, and…" he trails off. We all know what he's going to say.

"Personally, I'm glad he's gone," a small voice, Chelsea Robins, squeaks. "I mean, I don't know what all this was about-" she gestures to my throat- "but I assume it had something to do with him." I nod, and she sighs. "This isn't going to work."

"Well, would you rather have him or McLaggen?" James asks, and we laugh.

"We'll see," I rasp. "Hopefully it'll work out. Back to practice?"

We do, and it's not easy with only one Beater, but I'm skilled, so I can handle it.

Then comes lunch. I'm definitely not prepared for what happens in the entrance hall.

"Oi, Weasley!"

Nott.

"What do you want, Nott?" I ask hoarsely.

"What happened to your throat?" He's grinning, which only deepens my dislike for him. Standing by him are Goyle and Warren, his usual goonies, and Malfoy. Ugh.

"Ask your friend," I snap, nodding at Malfoy, who looks at his feet.

Nott looks at Malfoy. "You did that?" he asks. Malfoy gives a single nod, barely noticeable, still staring at his feet. "Great job, mate!" Nott says, holding his hand up for a high-five.

"Are you done wasting my time?" I ask impatiently.

"No," snarls Nott. "I'm not." He pulls out his wand.

I sigh. I've been saving this one for a while, one Uncle Harry taught me last summer.

 _Levicorpus!_

The non-verbal spell hits Nott, lifting him into the air by his ankle. Just my luck, Peeves comes zooming around the corner.

"Students using spells, are we?" he cackles as Nott flails in the air.

"Go away, Peeves," I say.

"Oh-ho-ho, it's the Weasley girl!" he cackles. "Guess I better leave, before-good day, your Headmistressness!" he says as Professor McGonagall rounds the corner. She takes one look at the scene before her and sighs.

"Miss Weasley, was Mr. Nott threatening you?" she asks me. I nod once. A wand pulled out counts as threatening, right?

Professor McGonagall sighs again. "Any of the others?" I glare at Malfoy and shake my head no. She sighs one final time and says to Nott, "Next time it will be a detention." Then she stalks off back down the hall, Peeves following her. She waves her wand once and Nott falls back to the ground. Goyle and Warren help him up. I glare at Malfoy one last time and turn to go to lunch.

"You okay?" Alice asks immediately, seeing my expression. I nod.

"Nott," I say. She nods sympathetically, we all saw Malfoy at the Slytherin table this morning, which is where he is now as well.

Christmas break is more studying. Except for meals and Quidditch, which Malfoy doesn't show up to again, I never leave the common room.

And when classes resume, I'm in for a big surprise.

Albus POV

"And so, if you take the nonverbal form of the Stunning Spell, you can see that the eyebrows tense up, causing you to be able to perform a nonverbal Shielding Spell…" I yawn. This term in DADA we're working on dueling...and it's both boring and entertaining at the same time.

Rose and I are top of the class, Frank and Alice just behind us. Rose and Alice usually partner up, and Frank and I, and the four of us take turns silently using whatever jinx we're practicing on Scorp-I mean Malfoy. And since we're all so bloody brilliant, none of us show the "eyebrow tensing" or whatever Professor said. The funny thing is, he can't seem to figure out it's coming from us.

I wouldn't do it at all, and I know the other wouldn't either, if he hadn't turned into Nott's right-hand man. He's been awful to all of us, especially Rose, which has me seething because he never makes fun of her when I'm around. At least he's taking my promise seriously; he's been trying to avoid me as much as possible. Which is hard, seeing as we share a dorm.

Don't get me wrong about Slytherins, most of them are actually quite nice. Once you push aside the fact that they'll usually put themselves first, a lot of them are nicer than some of the Gryffindors, and if you're friends with them they'll literally kill for you. I have some (okay, quite a few) of those traits, but once I saw that all my friends (Malfoy, Frank, and Alice were all before me in the Sorting) were in Gryffindor, I decided on Gryffindor.

And I'm glad I did, because who would be there for Rose otherwise? Seeing as we have about half our classes with the Slytherins, and all of them with Scorp-Malfoy. Not Scorp anymore, because he's just as awful to me.

But then when Nott strikes, none of us are prepared. None of us but Malfoy, that is.


	5. Under the Whomping Willow

Scorpius POV

I didn't mean it to happen. But it did, and I can't change it back.

I didn't mean to become as awful as Travis Nott. But I did, and I can't change it back.

And I certainly didn't mean to save Rose Weasley's life, but I did, and that's the one thing I don't want to change.

Since Nott is officially my sort-of friend now, I suppose I'll be stuck hanging out with him until Rose forgives me. If she ever does, which I doubt.

It's a Saturday in late March, maybe a week or two before Easter. I'm sitting with Nott, Warren, and Goyle, who are laughing about the prank we're about to pull. Only it isn't a prank.

It's a death trap.

"Everyone ready?" Nott whispers. We all nod-even though I totally am not.

Bam. Here they come, walking out of the castle. Al, Frank, Rose, and Alice.

Al, Frank, Rose, and Alice. My old friends-was it good I split off from them?

Or am I acting like my father, my grandfather?

Whoosh. The plan is in action as soon as Rose sets her wand down. Nott's up and running, by now he's done the Levicorpus spell Rose used on him so long ago. I advised him to get over it. He didn't listen.

"What are you _doing_?" she shrieks. Al jumps up immediately, followed by Frank and Alice. Nott waves his wand and she starts floating-floating to the Whomping Willow.

Immediately Goyle and Warren disarm Al and Frank-and I'm supposed to disarm Alice, which I do reluctantly as Rose floats closer to the Whomping Willow, screaming some choice words at Nott. And me.

Goyle and Warren now have struggling Al and Frank captive, and I lightly grab Alice's arms.

"Don't say anything," I whisper quietly. "I'm going to let go of you. Grab the three wands, disarm Goyle and Warren, help Al and Frank. Shake if you understand." Alice shakes slightly. Rose floats closer and closer to the Whomping Willow-

And I let Alice go.

Rose POV

"Put me _down_ , you insolent baboon of a wizard!" I shriek at Nott. I glance at my friends-currently struggling with Malfoy, Goyle, and Warren, all three of them disarmed.

I look back to where Nott seems to be moving me-dear God. It's the Whomping Willow. Its branches are already moving in a mesmerizing pattern, waiting, waiting for it's next victim. Me.

I glance back over at my friends-Malfoy has lost control of Alice, and she has the three wands. Mine is lost in the grass somewhere. But Al and Frank have broken free and are now dueling with Goyle and Warren. The latter two are on the ground within a matter of seconds.

Alice is frantically searching for my wand, maybe hoping to pass it up to me. Malfoy is running at Nott, probably to assist him-I'm getting closer and closer to the Whomping Willow. I can feel the wind of the branches' movements whipping my hair-so when Malfoy tackles Nott, I almost miss it. I'm within inches of the Whomping Willow's first branches when Nott goes down, losing control of his wand. Of course, I'm nearly thirty feet in the air by now-and I go crashing to the ground.

Falling through the air. This is how I'm going to die. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to-

Bam. Someone has caught me. I find myself breathless in-of all people-Scorpius Malfoy's arms.

"You're welcome," he says, smirking. His nerve! After everything he's done! Granted, he did just save my life twice-but he's made it awful for the past three months.

I scramble out of Malfoy's arms while my friends stand by, speechless at his change of heart. Saving me not once but _twice_ in the past five minutes.

But it still doesn't account for all the pain he's caused me-all the pain he's caused all of _us_.

"You're welcome," he repeats. I don't smile, I don't thank him. I grab his tie and pull his face close.

"Don't think this changes anything," I snarl. "I can't account for the others-but I still haven't forgiven you."

I let go and turn on my heel. Alice is shaking and wraps me in a giant hug. Albus marches straight past me to Malfoy.

"Thank you," Al says, stiffly and politely. Malfoy nods carefully, and glances at where Alice, Frank, and I are standing.

Al sighs. "I suppose." Malfoy breaks out into a huge grin and follows Al over. I stand stiffly, my arms crossed, but Frank shakes his hand, smiling, and Alice gives him a huge hug, squealing, "SCORPY!" I sigh. I guess Malfoy is back.

I can't avoid him forever-I suppose I'll have to be his friend again-but things are never the same between us. Always extremely polite conversation when there is any. Alice and Frank respect my opinion, but Al is trying to get us to be friends again.

I just can't imagine we can be. Not after what he did.

 **Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy with school and sports and stuff. I have the next few chapters ready, there will only be two or three more. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Amortentia

CHAPTER SIX: AMORTENTIA

Albus POV

"Psst! Albus!"

I turn to Alice, annoyed. "What?" I respond, equally discreet. We're sitting in our usual spot in the very back of the potions room.

"Where are Rose and Scorpy?" she asks.

"Shut up!" Frank tells her.

"Apparation tests, remember?" I say, ignoring Frank.

"Oh, yeah," she says, frowning. "When will they be back?"

The door bursts open and several students walk in. They sniff the air hopefully; today we're making amortentia, the 'most powerful love potion in the world'.

Rose and Scorp take a seat by us, making sure they're on opposite ends of the table.

Professor Slughorn explains for a bit about the potion we're making and lets us mill around the class. That's the nice thing about Slughorn, he lets you pretty much just do whatever.

After an hour, we've nearly finished. Of course we're all on separate cauldrons, but we always share ingredients and stuff. Scorp moves past Rose to grab something, catching a whiff of her nearly-finished potion. It's nice to see that they've sort-of regained their relationship, if constant bickering is their normal relationship. Which it is.

"Blimey, Weasley," he says. "Did you dump an entire bottle of perfume on yourself this morning?"

"No," she says, glaring. "I ran out of it last week. But you could do well to lighten up on the cologne."

Alice, Frank, and I exchange glances. Scorp ran out of cologne last week too-he was complaining about needing to go to Hogsmeade for more. I try not to laugh-amortentia smells like what you're attracted to. I take a deep whiff of mine-books and the Quidditch pitch and a hint of-Alice?! I quickly pour some in a bottle and bring it to Slughorn, even though they can't know what I was smelling. When I get back, Scorp and Rose are still arguing over what it smells like-Rose is frantically looking through the instructions to see if she did something wrong. I suppress a laugh, because this is just too funny. Then I remember that my potion smelled like a girl too, and I shut up.

"What does yours smell like?" I hiss to Frank. He takes a deep sniff of his own bottled potion.

"Mm.." he says, sighing. "Mum's Christmas meal and Quidditch and the Great Hall on Halloween and the greenhouses and...and…" he blushes as red as a Remembrall.

"What else did you smell?" I ask, grinning.

"Alison Finnigan," he mutters, and goes even more red. "What about you?"

"Quidditch and books and…"

"What else did you smell?" he asks in the same voice I used.

"Your sister," I mutter, turning as red as he is.

"What?" he asks.

"Your sister," I say a little louder, but not loud enough that Alice can hear me.

Frank's eyes go wide and he grins. Oh, well. At least he isn't mad.

"You should ask her out," he says.

"Really?!" I say, surprised. He nods.

"Ask her what she smells," he hisses.

"Alright." I turn to Alice. "What do you smell?" I ask.

She looks at me funny and smells her potion. "Let's see...butterbeer and parties and plants and...something else…" She takes another sniff.

"And...well _that_ doesn't make any sense," she says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's kind of like a new broom, but I hate flying, but it's not just a broom, it's like a palm tree and a broom mixed together…" Alice trails off. "Maybe I did something wrong," she says, shrugging.

I turn back to Frank, my face even more red.

"Well?" he says, raising his eyebrow. I sigh.

"She could smell my cologne," I say. Frank laughs even harder than before.

Scorpius POV

I take a deep sniff of my potion. No, that can't be right...I must have done something wrong. We on Earth would I be smelling Rose Weasley?

Speaking of Weasley, she's gagging.

"What?" I ask.

"Really," she coughs. "Did you have to use that much cologne?"

My eyes widen. I ran out of cologne last week...I was complaining about being out just this morning.

"I...uh…" No, if I agree with her she'll think something's up.

"Yes, Weasley, I did," I say, trying for my usual smirk. She glares at me and moves her cauldron more by Alice.

"So," Al says, shimmying up to me. "You're smelling my cousin, huh?" I sigh. "S'okay," he says, grinning. "I smell Alice and Frank smells Alison Finnigan."

"Hey!" Frank protests.

"Nah," I say. "Look, I think she smells you." The three of us glance across the room, where Alison Finnigan is sneaking glances at Frank.

"Toldja," I say, smirking. "What about Alice?"

"Me," Albus says proudly. "But she thinks she did something wrong."

"You got that right," I say. Frank laughs and Al glares, but he's grinning. Rose scowls at me, as if everything is my fault. I've been getting a lot of that lately.

"Really," Al says. "Are you attracted to my cousin?"

"Maybe a little," I say. "But she hates me."

"You got that right!" Al hoots, slapping me on the back so hard I nearly dump my cauldron over.


	7. The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Rose POV

I sigh and stumble up to the common room. Eight o'clock Saturday night detentions are the worst, especially since Professor Slughorn didn't let me out until ten. Malfoy and I may have had a potion-throwing fight...since Malfoy was the instigator, he had to stay an extra ten minutes. Hugo is sitting by the fireplace, asleep.

"Hi," he says as I shake him awake. "I wanted to make sure you found your way back. I thought you might've gone into the Forbidden Forest."

"I was just helping organize potion supplies," I say gently. He nods, I give him a hug, and he bounds upstairs.

I see a book lying on another armchair, and pick it up. No name. Well, someone is Gryffindor is missing their copy of _Deciphering Ancient Runes_ , so I bring it to the giant wardrobe we use as a lost and found. I toss the book inside quickly-I just want to go to bed. But then a small thing tumbles out. On closer inspection, that thing is a body. Hugo's dead body.

I gasp, my heart collapsing. But no, that couldn't be. Hugo just went upstairs.

This must be a boggart. I pull out my wand. "Riddikulus!" I cry. But instead of disappearing, the boggart turns into a dead mum. "Riddikulus!" _Crack!_ Dead dad.

"Riddikulus! Riddikulus! Riddikulus!"

 _Crack!_ Dead Albus. _Crack!_ Dead Alice. _Crack!_ Dead Frank.

"Riddikulus!" I scream, still not loud enough to wake anyone. The dorm doors are soundproof.

Malfoy bursts into the common room.

"I hear you scream-" he starts, and then he sees the boggart.

 _Crack!_ Lucius Malfoy, his grandfather, stalking towards Scorpius Malfoy.

"You are a disappointment to the family," boggart-Lucius says.

Malfoy has frozen now, unable to move.

"Malfoy, it's a boggart!" I yell. Malfoy turns to me. The boggart changes again with another _crack_. Now it's me, weaving it's way towards Malfoy.

"We all hate you," the boggart-me says. "We were happier without you."

"Malfoy, it's not real!" I shout. He turns to me, a look of pure anger in his eyes- _crack_.

The boggart turns into Malfoy, creeping his way towards me. I know what's coming, but I try to avoid it anyways. I backup, my back pressing against the wall. The real Malfoy has frozen in place, the boggart-Malfoy creeps closer, its hand reaching out for my throat. I close my eyes and the hand closes around my throat, try to shove it off, but I can't I've frozen as well-"RIDDIKULUS!" the real Malfoy yells. The boggart is thrown back into the wardrobe, the doors slamming shut, trapping it inside.

I sink to the ground, my back still pressed against the wall, breathing heavily.

"You-" Malfoy chokes out. "You're afraid of _me_?"

I give a single nod and a shuddering breath, and try to prevent the tears from streaming down my face. Malfoy gives me a few minutes to collect myself, then says, "Ready to give it another go?" He raises his wand.

I shake my head. "I have to do it myself." Malfoy nods, understanding perfectly. He waves his wand once, the door of the wardrobe open.

The boggart-Malfoy stumbles out again, reaching for my throat.

Then, a burst of green light, even though I didn't do anything. The boggart-Malfoy falls to the ground, dead.

"R-riddikulus!" I stammer, and with a final wand wave the boggart disappears, defeated at last. I take another shuddering breath and fall against the wall.

"Rose," Malfoy says. I turn to him. "Are you afraid of me or not?"

"I-I'm afraid of you, but-but I'm also afraid of hurting you," I say. To the best of my knowledge, this is true. The boggart doesn't lie-and neither does amortentia.

"Wow," he says. "So you pretty much don't know how you feel about me?"

"Pretty much," I say, laughing.

He glances down. "My amortentia smells like you," he mutters.

"I know," I say. "It was pretty obvious."

He glances around and we spend a few moments in silence.

"Scorpius," I say quietly. He looks up, surprised by my use of his first name.

"What?" he asks.

"Thank you," I say quietly. And then suddenly he is wrapping me in a hug and I'm taking in his scent, my face mashed against his chest.

"My pleasure," he says quietly. And I look up and his face is right there and I'm up on my tip-toes kissing him. And I have to admit, I may hate Scorpius Malfoy, and may be a little bit afraid of him, but I guess I like him, too.

Albus POV

"What are they doing?" Frank hisses.

"They're just kind of standing there," Alice says, peering through our make-shift fort of couches and chairs.

"I told you the boggart was a great idea," I whisper smugly. "Thank your dad for me, by the way."

"Now they're hugging!" Alice whisper-squeals excitedly.

"Five galleons, mate!" I say to Frank. "Hand them over!"

"Now they're kissing!" Alice squeals even more excitedly. "And you both owe me five galleons!"

I scowl and we both dig in our pockets for change. I know, betting on their love life is low, even for us.

But hey, that's what friends are for.

 **Hey guys, so, I might have one more chapter, but that's probably it. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
